From porcelain plates to social purpose: The ever-evolving world of Supermama’s founder Edwin Low

Edwin Low has a lot on his plate at the moment. The founder of Singapore lifestyle brand Supermama has spent the last few months co-curating the EMERGE @ FIND showcase, which runs from Sep 11 to Sep 13. He has also come up with a new concept that will launch in October 2025 at the Enabling Village. After that, he has plans to expand his New Nanyang collection to have a stronger Southeast Asian flavour.

Although it has been 15 years since Low started Supermama, it is clear the 46-year-old has no plans to slow down. “I always question why I am here. Once every two to three years, I will look back and see where the dots are going and use that to plot my trajectory,” he shared.

Regardless of where he goes, Low is steadfastly faithful to operating at the intersection of design, craftsmanship and storytelling. As a Singaporean designer by training, it is equally important to him to champion local. It probably explains why Supermama has become such a beloved brand.

TELLING THE SINGAPORE STORY

Today, it is the go-to for the well-heeled thinking of getting a gift for a foreigner or a memento to remember Singapore by. The most iconic is Singapore Blue, a series of blue-and-white porcelain plates that are embellished with hyper-local motifs like the Merlion and HDB blocks. Its inaugural collection, Singapore Icons, won the President’s Design Award (PDA) in 2013.

But beneath its glossy veneer, Supermama has a deeper purpose that has guided Low since the first product was conceptualised. “As a Singapore designer, I have always wanted to develop a Singapore design language,” he revealed.

Consequently, he decided to collaborate with as many local designers as possible; to do otherwise would make the style too specific to himself or Supermama. To date, he has worked with more than 100, including the likes of Studio Juju and Hans Tan. 

Another defining trait of Supermama is its made-in-Japan production. It all started after Low had a lucky break in 2012, when he met Japanese porcelain maker Kihara, which had been attempting to venture overseas. “At that point, they were on the brink of giving up, so I went and asked them to craft five designs for me.”

This later became the award-winning Singapore Icons. Since then, Kihara has collaborated closely with Supermama. It has also opened doors for Low in the Japanese makers community, introducing him to specialists in metalworks, glass and textiles, just to name a few. “Working with the Japanese is very important to me – their well-crafted objects complement our strength, which is in design,” he emphasised.

Beyond their physical manifestation, the intrinsic value behind each plate is the story it represents. It is a heady narrative of preserving a craft, recognising the eternal nature of porcelain as a medium and responsibility of using these two to paint an accurate depiction of Singapore.

“Let's say in a million years, Singapore gets destroyed by an earthquake. If someone digs up a Supermama porcelain piece, it will tell them something about us. I find myself very privileged to be in this position,” said Low. 

SOUTHEAST ASIA BECKONS

It certainly feels like his experience running Supermama has coalesced into the 2025 edition of EMERGE @ FIND, an event under the FIND – Design Fair Asia. As the first co-curator and a Singaporean to boot, he has planned it with Suzy Annetta to the theme of “Dialogue Through Design”.

Low hopes the creatives will explore the idea of design as a medium of communication. He believes that the objects they design are encoded with messages that are the result of their lived experiences. When consumers buy them, they would have done so after a process of decoding. 

“This is beautiful, because the designer ‘speaks’ through the object,” he said. “I want visitors to think about what that message is, because it shows the versatility of design and power of the designer.”

In addition to wanting to support this platform for emerging designers, Low agreed to the curatorship because he saw an opportunity to extend the show beyond its usual three days. Some 20 works by EMERGE alumni are now on sale at the Supermama Store in the Asian Civilisations Museum. From Sep 26, the same space will host market-ready products from this year’s edition. 

Also new in 2025 is EMERGE’s expansion beyond Southeast Asia to include designers from East Asia. “I realised that in our region, we don't work in silos; we are always very collaborative. I thought that we can offer that perspective and provide opportunities for Southeast Asia designers to be connected with them,” he shared. 

This focus on our immediate neighbours is something he is doing within Supermama too, through the New Nanyang collection. First launched in 2024, it saw 10 local artists paired with 10 Japanese makers to create a range of objets.

Next up, he plans to match Southeast Asian designers and makers. “What if I mixed a bamboo maker in Indonesia with a Capiz shell maker in the Philippines? Could we potentially create a completely new collective Southeast Asian language?” he mused.

NO SLOWING DOWN

Back on local shores, Low is clearly fired up by the next project he is working on: We Are Super. Modelled as a social enterprise, it is an 800 sq m space in the Enabling Village that will launch in October. The aim is to be a platform that turns inclusive design into impact. 

Low publicly revealed, for the first time, that he has a younger sister who is hearing impaired. Because of this, he has always been in favour of working with persons with disabilities. For instance, the Tropical Paradise Urushi Tray in the New Nanyang collection is created by Noah Tan, an artist with autism, in collaboration with Japanese lacquerware studio Settsu Urushi.

At We Are Super, the entrepreneurial side of Low has incorporated a cafe, retail space and skills gallery. He intends to employ persons with disabilities to develop merchandise to sell. Ideas include art therapy workshops and buddying with local creatives to design various products.

“I realised I'm possibly the most objective person to run this, because I don't have any baggage. I will not focus on one particular disability and neglect the others. This is what I will be doing for the next two to three years,” he said.

With so many accomplishments under his belt, it comes as a bit of a surprise when Low revealed that he never thought he would make it this far: “I started Supermama with the intent to close it within a year.” 

What he wanted to do then was fulfil his dream of setting up a design store. Thinking he would fail even before it opened, he thought he would then go back to teaching at Singapore Polytechnic, where he was previously working, and share his industry experience with his students. 

A second reason was for him and his wife, who also joined him in the business, to spend time with their two young children then. To make this work, they sold their four-room HDB flat and downgraded to a three-room unit. “I wanted my kids to grow up knowing this sacrifice their mother made, so I called the brand ‘Supermama’,” he laughed. 

Those early years were slow moving, even after Low’s epiphany of changing the business model from selling design-led products to actually producing Singapore design. It was only in 2015, when Singapore celebrated its 50th year of independence, that he finally discarded the notion of folding the business.

“After five years of not earning money, I realised there was a change in local customers’ attitude towards local design. Fuelled by patriotism, they started to buy local products,” he recalled, with some relief. 

Seizing the moment, Low decided to launch a new range called Souvenirs From Singapore, made up of items like a Merlion chou chou (self-soothing toy) and jiu ceng gao (nine-layered cake) door-stop. It catapulted them further into the spotlight and Supermama has not turned back since. 

Ten years on, Low is still brimming over with enthusiasm. At 60 this year, Singapore is still, in his eyes, “so young”. He thinks that there is still plenty to be done in the design scene and is happy to continue to contribute, “We are in a phase where we can dictate the design language to come; we just need to create and let time do its magic.”